Sean Bean Shares His Secret Thoughts During That Tragic GoT Death Scene
Sean Bean is a seasoned actor who has appeared in some huge franchises including Lord of the Rings and James Bond during a career that has spanned 5 decades.
But he can still recall what was going through his mind as he filmed the now iconic death of Ned Stark.
In an interview with EW, the actor described how he was focused on the conflicting thoughts going around in his character's head at that moment.
Aside from the fact that was about to lose his head, Bean recalls, Ned Stark also had feelings of "horror and disbelief" about Joffrey's U-turn, in addition to realising that he was "seeing his daughter for the last time".
And he says that it was "those mix of feelings (that) made it what it was".
The scene took an entire day to shoot and it would have been easy for a lesser actor to allow their mind to wander. Indeed, Bean said he had to "keep focused on the fact that you're about to meet your death without messing around".
He says that he was "very hot" throughout the day and believes that helped him remain focused.
But he also praised his colleagues for helping make the scene so good, saying the reactions of "Cersei and the kids" helped make it "very moving" and added "a lot of pathos" to the scene.
As the sword came down, Ned said something under his breath. And Bean insists that those words will remain a secret. But the actor did ask somebody what an appropriate prayer would be for somebody of Ned's belief.
So, we can take it that those secret words were authentic to the character. It's the type of attention to detail that often goes unnoticed but helps keep a character or a scene believable – even, if, as viewers, we're not quite sure why.
Sean Bean was involved in the series from the beginning and described the original pilot as "alright". He went on to say he felt "the body" and "spirit of the piece" were there, but that the "development of the characters and the story could be improved".
And he was right. After significant changes were made and much reshooting had taken place, it went on to be one of the most successful TV shows to ever hit our screens. And it was moments like the death of Ned Stark that made it so great.